I made the pie tonite for a staff Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow nite. For some reason, the pie crust didn’t turn out at all- had to throw it away. Went back to my own pie crust and made the rest of the pie. We’ll see how it tastes tomorrow! Certainly smells good!

Beth — from what I’ve read, custard pies don’t freeze well either before or after baking. (And this is a type of custard pie.)
Can you just chill it well after baking and transport it with some cold packs?

Beth-I always freeze my pumpkin pies after baking them and I’ve never had any trouble other than a slight pooling on the top, which I blot with a paper towel after thawing. However, due to the layers, I don’t think the pecan/corn syrup part would freeze well. I think Barbara’s advice is best, bake beforehand and transport with freezer packs…good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

thank you ladies for your advice. I made a mini-version tonight and it was quite the comedy of errors. I’m not sure I’ll do a full size one at all and then have to factor in the travel. maybe i’ll bring something else.

Mine didn’t turn out at all! I’ll take the blame on this one because I made several mini pies and so I fiddled around with the baking times. Guess I fiddled too much because they were NOT done. I thought they were (passed the knife test) but they totally collapsed upon cooling. FYI: gooey underbaked Twofer Pie is not tasty.

I actually dislike both pumpkin and pecan pie (I know!) so it wasn’t a huge loss. Glad to hear that other folks enjoyed theirs!

I see a couple of mini pie attempts above that didn’t work out. Any suggestions for making this smaller? We’re traveling next week and there is no way the two of us can eat a whole pie — and I know it won’t freeze well, and I hate to throw most of it out. Is it as simple as cutting the recipe in half and making it in some kind of smaller dish? If so, how would cooking times be adjusted? I have no experience with decreasing recipes, at least when baking. Thanks in advance!

I’m at work, so can’t consult the recipe to see what size pie pan she calls for — but a “standard” pie pan holds about 4 cups of filling. A “deep-dish” one holds 5 or 6 cups. You could try pouring water into your mini-pans to see how much they hold. (Don’t fill them quite all the way because you will need to allow for the room that the crust takes up.)

As far as baking times, I don’t know. Except that half-size pies generally seem to take a lot more than half the time to bake — often it takes almost as long as the full size.

Just a quick non-recipe related question: I am not interested in doing this (and there aren’t any pecans in Germany anyway)- can I just choose another recipe, do it, post it and that’s ok? Wasn’t sure how doing a “rewind” is handled.
Thanks!

I have some 4-inch tart flan cases (about 1/2 inch high and fluted) that I would love to try for this week’s challenge. It was one of those can’t resist, impulse purchases. Can anyone give me an approximate baking time for the tarts? – this is the first time I have made small pastry tarts.

Heather – My guess for the 4″ tarts is that you’ll want to bake them at 450 for 10 minutes and then 300 for another 25-30. It may seem like a long time, but maybe check them at 20 minutes just in case. At 300, things will be baking pretty slowly anyways.

G – Rewinds are generally only allowed when the recipe picked requires equipment that is prohibitively expensive. This recipe allows for nut substitutions, so you can always mini-size it (my general solution when I’m not interested in the recipe) and use some other nut like walnuts or hazelnuts. Otherwise, not doing the recipe counts as a “miss” when determining if you’re an active member of the group. I hope you’ll join us in making it (it smells delicious, btw)!

Eunice – You might want to take a look at Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe to see if you’ll need to mess with pumpkin : liquid ratios when replacing heavy cream with evaporated milk, which is much thicker (and sweeter, so maybe reduce the sugar too?). Should work though.

Good luck to all! I hope this recipe is getting everyone in the Thanksgiving mood!

Eunice – I don’t think you’ll have any problem substituting the evaporated milk for the cream. I have a few pumpkin pie recipes around that call for evaporated milk. You may have a very slightly different texture and slightly less rich flavor, but it should be hardly noticeable.

I’m very excited about this recipe. I’ve always liked, but never loved, straight pumpkin pie. Until this year I’ve been making a toffee pumpkin pie that I think is much better than the regular. I’m hoping the Twofer pie will become my new favorite pumpkin pie.

I routinely substitute evaporated milk (even evaporated skim milk) for cream in recipes. Seems to work well. And if you make it this way the first time, you’ll never know if you’re missing something! I’m glad some of you are making this early, as I won’t be doing it until the last minute. I’m waiting for my daughter to come home and cook it with me, and she doesn’t land until Thanksgiving Day.

In the meantime, I am really hoping for notice on the December recipes (at least one or two of them) so I can fit it into travel and entertaining plans.
Nancy

Hey bakers. I’m roasting a pumpkin for the occasion and would like to know if anyone would be so kind as to measure their can of pumpkin so that I know how much to use. Many thanks you wonderful, wonderful people.

Ah, ha… Oh my. Never you mind. I re-read the recipe and noticed the word “cup” right in between the words “one” and “can.” See, this is why I try to keep to myself. It’s alright though, you’re still wonderful, wonderful people.

Does anyone have some advice on paritally baking the pie crust? I am making pie crust from scratch for the first time ever and I haven’t used pie weights/rice/etc. I am planning to do as much as I can the Wed night since I am in charge of the turkey for my pot luck. Any help will be much appreciated.

Hi Whitney! Here’s my advice on partially pre-baking:
1) it really helps to chill or even freeze the crust after you put it in the pan and before pre-baking. It keeps its shape much better.
2) Before you put in the weights, you’ll want to put a piece of foil, parchment paper, or even a large coffee filter over the pie crust. I strongly recommend buttering, greasing, or oiling the bottom side of this liner. It will help to reduce sticking when you pull the liner out. Also, leave plenty of extra liner hanging over the edges, to make it easier to pull the liner out without dumping the weights all over the place. (Can you tell that I have had these things happen to me?)
3) You can use all sorts of things for weights. Beans, rice, even pennies. Rose Levy Beranbaum says she recommends rice because you can then use the rice in pilaf! (Beans, however, are not recommended for cooking after use as weights.) http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2008/07/chef_on_call.html
4) If the liner seems to be sticking to the crust as you try to pull it out, you probably need to bake the crust a little longer. Once the crust is properly set, it should be easy to remove the liner & weights.

I am making my pumpkin pie today and want to serve it for Thanksgiving. Anyone have any luck freezing the pie before baking or after? How about putting it all together and wrapping it up in the fridge until Thanksgiving. Bake it that morning? Suggestions? If Mrs. Smith can do it why can’t we?

Hey Everybody,
I’m not going to be able to make this one. I’d hoped to get my act together and make it last week but life intervened. I’m going home for Thanksgiving and my mom is beyond militant — no one, but no one, messes with her Thanksgiving table! SO, since I am not a pie fan myself, I will be back after Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Jessica

I made mine yesterday and the filling is OMG great! It’s not as sweet a pecan pie and more interesting than pumpkin pie by itself. The recipes I have looked at for pecan or pumpkin pie generally use a non-baked pie shell. My pie crust was over done, even after covering with aluminum foil and a pie crust protector. When I make this again I will NOT pre-bake my pie shell. My pie took 15-18 minutes longer than the recipe indicated and I was using a deep dish 9″ pie plate. My mom’s recipe for pumpkin pie indicated to start at 425 for 15 minutes and then 375 for 35-45 minutes; I feel Dorie’s 300 degrees was too low a temp. for this pie, a least for me.

I agree about not pre-baking the pie shell and the baking time being a bit short. I had mine in the full 45 minutes (and I usually have to underbake things in my oven) with the filling in the pre-baked shell; it probably could have used a few more minutes, but the crust was already pretty crispy. The filling was great; I may use just the pumpkin part for Thanksgiving.

I agree that a deep dish pie shell should be used, I didn’t have one and had to transfer the pie off the first baking sheet after the 10 minutes in at 450 onto another due to the burnt gunk. Note is being put in the cookbook for next time.:)

I feel the same way about the prebaking. I had to put aluminum foil around the edges of the crust about half way through the last 40 minute bake and the edges still got pretty crispy and very dark brown.

I just used 2 deep dish 9″ pie crusts (a store bought frozen ones…sorry I was really running short on time) and doubled the recipe. The pies were full, but had enough room for everything…it was tricky getting it into the oven without spilling. It was really easy to put together though…and smelled amazing. I only wish I hadn’t made these 2 pies to give away…but I definitely will be making it again for Thanksgiving. I used the dark corn syrup, and the end result looks a lot like a regular pecan pie (alas I can’t cut it up and take a bite), I wonder if you used the light corn syrup if it would look more orange when you finish…

Stephanie, I didnt have rum either. I dont like rum so I didnt want to buy it. BUT I used bourban (since my dad is a kentucky bourban fan I keep a bottle here for when he visits :) ) The taste I think came together fine using that. I have seen walnut bourban pies so I figured this substitution would be fine.

I will say, my pie didnt quite turn out. The crust turned REALLY brown and burnt. The inside was really mushy and runny despite the knife coming out clean when I tested it. I returned it to the oven after it was fully cooled but….I know you arent supposed to but I tried it anyway since it was not edible the way it was. I put it back in for about 15-20 minutes and it was better. Not sure if I just didnt like it because of the pecans or not?

So bummed, that is two for two TWD I have screwed up. I really can bake…I swear! :)

I agree with the deep dish being used as well. I have not put in my filling, but can tell all if it will not fit! Oh, well, live and bake. I also could not spend money on rum, so I borrowed my nieghbors :-)
I can hardly wait to see everyone’s efforts tomorrow!

Can anyone suggest a substitute for the heavy cream in this recipe? I’d rather not run to the store if I can avoid it. I don’t have any evaporated milk, unfortunately . . . how about sour cream or blended ricotta? Any thoughts? :)

I made mini pies today and they were wonderful! I did them in a muffin tin, pre-baked the crust for 10 minutes, and then baked the filled pies for 20 minutes at 350, the muffin tin was on a cookie sheet for the first 15 minutes to prevent over browing the bottom, but I slid the muffin tin off for the last 5 minutes.

A few quick questions:
I’ve just made my pumpkin puree (had to roast a root vegetable- hope it’s close enough to pumpkin to taste similar) and am refrigerating my dough. I won’t be using rum-
*** do you think the alcohol is needed? The only non-wine we have is kahlua?
Also, no pecans in this country so I got walnuts, but also no corn syrup.

***Is there a substitute or should I just stud my pumpkin pie with walnuts?

I am already guessing from the above comments that I shouldn’t pre-bake my crust and should increase my temp, perhaps to 185C? Luckily I brought pie pans with me, because we don’t have them here either…

I haven’t made this particular pie (yet), but several other pies I’ve made from BFMHTY have involved too much filling for the crust. I’ve learned the hard way not to pour it all in if it looks like it’s too much. I’m either going to use a deep dish, or not use all the filling.

My oven is shot. My life revolves around baking things — dinner, bread, granola, TWD recipes — and now I have no oven. Well, technically, I have a small, countertop convection oven: It’s about big enough around to fit in a pie plate. But I have never actually used it before — I got it from Freecycle just last weekend — and I have no idea how to modify recipes for a convection oven. I’ve got some mini pecan pies in there now as a test, but that doesn’t really help me figure out how to modify for a large pie. Does anyone out there use a convection oven? Are the times generally the same? How about the temperatures?

Okay, I decided that I’m not going to substitute something too off-track for this since I’m bringing it as a Thanksgiving pie (never a great time to experiment). I’ll run to the store later and post late.

Thanksgiving Twofer Pie
OK, so the baking gods were not smiling tonight! I read the blog here first which was a good step. Ran to the store to get a few things even thought I would try an Organic all Vegetable Shortening non-hydrogenated and zero grams trans fat. Then I got home to the kitchen..maybe a mistake?! Ooops on making a 9 inch single crust, I had measured out a 9 inch double crust. So I just tryied to ballpark splitting it in half and making the dough. Not so great. Into the fridge for an hour, figured the cold would cure all. Well it really didn’t very difficult to roll out. Got it into the 9 in pie plate and blind baked it. But it really took the whole double crust to make just a single and it was pretty thick on the bottom. The fillings went ok with the exception that I had walnuts and not pecans. So that it was it will be! Should be cooling in about 30 min!

I made this in a 9 inch deep dish crust. When pouring it I felt like it was too much batter. I actually had an overflow because I chipped the corner of the pie crust and it just started seeping onto the parchment paper. I am not sure where I went wrong, the deep dish should have been too deep if anything. It is in the oven, smells delicious, but it’s been 55 minutes and still cooking. I am afraid it is going to burn on top to cook in the middle. This is my first pecan pie, so it may just be me. My pumpkin pies in the past were pretty easy.

Mine is in the oven right now and I am nervous. I had too much pumpkin filling so I left some of that out. I did slightly prebake my crust and it shrunk along the sides, so I will have some overflow under the crust I am afraid. I used store bought crust – I’m just too busy right now to make crusts for all the pies I’m doing today. Based on so many people’s experiences I’m worried about this turning out. I bought extra pecans so I can make my standby pecan pie recipe if I have to. Cross your fingers!

I read someone said we could post by the 30th. I hope that is true. I work in a supermarket and OMG we are so busy this time of year, I just could not see making this before Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, be blessed beyond measure!

I baked it and baked it and baked it…I hope it’s done, because the knife didn’t come out clean, but the pie looks burnt. I did pre-bake the shell a little…(not as long as suggested). The edges were burnt in the first 5 minutes at 450! I covered them with a pie shield, but it was too late by then. I’m hoping it tastes MUCH better than it looks!

We will be baking this on Thursday or Friday, and I am contemplating using a tart pan (I think this is what Vibi did for her stunning pie) or two smaller pies. Or minis, but that seems like a lot of work!

My pie is in the oven and like Nancy… the crust looks totally burned and the filling is still runny. I did prebake my shell, but I took five minutes off each baking time and with a pie shield the entire time. My crust looks awful. This is really my first official TWD… and I think I’m gonna’ be booted for a bad attitude. I’m kinda’ ticked that I followed the recipe and came out with a disappointing result. Well, it might taste better than it looks… but I like a pretty pie. I keep setting my timer for 5 minutes more, my pie is still runny. And I’ve reset my timer 3 times. For a total of an extra 15 minutes so far. I did originally set the timer for 35 minutes.

Gonna’ shop for a oven thermometer on Friday. I have a brand spanking new Kitchen Aid oven though… I had hoped it was accurate.

I’m hanging in, but I’m feeling kinda’ like a test kitchen cook. How can so many people follow the same recipe and get so many different results?

Debbie Michel- I’m right there with ya. So far I’m in for 1 hour. I’ve just upped the temp back up to 350 – I can’t wait around any longer. Foil draped over the top should stave off burning. I’ve been baking and cooking like a fool for hours now, and I have this and one more pie (also a Dorie) to go. It’s the sour cream pumpkin with the same baking directions and I may just wing it for that one. It seems that all her recipes take way longer in my oven than her directions.

Debbie Michel – definitely get a good oven thermometer; I have an almost-new GE that is horribly off (when it beeps at 350, it’s really barely 300 – needs at least 10-15 more minutes to preheat fully). Not worth it to me in $$ to have it recalibrated at this point (versus a $12 thermometer) but if yours is really brand new and really off in temp, you should call KitchenAid. Good luck with your pies!

Mine turned out fine but my husband is still grumbling because he only really likes fruit pies. (Picky man.)

I used a deep dish pan (and definitely needed one). I kept the edges of the pie crust covered the whole time, pre-baking and during baking. They were still very brown but not burnt. I started the oven off at just 400 for 10 minutes and then turned it down to 325. The pie was done in the time it said in the book, or maybe about 5 minutes more — I can’t see how it could possibly be done in that time if you bake at 300.

30th November and I’ve finally made the deadline! My pie was great! =D Because I’ve never had a pumpkin pie, of course..i was heavily suspicious at first. I pureed my own little pumpkin & it was too watery!

But it baked good =D Too sweet for my liking, but the second dish I spread the pumpkin thinner and it was just right =D

thumbs up for the recipe! i used Gracie’s Dorie’s sweet tart pie base.